Learning American Sign Language
By Lee McKenzie

I have always admired people who are bilingual, but for some reason I was never motivated to learn another language. Then last year I signed up for an American Sign Language class and after a year of fairly diligent study and practice, I'm now able to carry on a reasonable conversation. Of course, it helps if the person I'm signing with is patient with me and doesn't sign too quickly!

Recently, I watched a rerun of an early episode of Sue Thomas FBEye, the television show based on the true story of a Deaf woman who worked for the FBI, and it reminded me of one of the reasons why I decided to learn ASL. The first time I watched that show, I had to rely solely on the subtitles to understand what was being said. Now I can understand quite a lot and only have to glance at the subtitles for confirmation.

ASL is a complex language that has a unique structure and grammatical rules. Fingerspelling is used for proper nouns that do not have signs, but it is not a major part of the language. This is a good thing for me because understanding a fingerspelled word is much more difficult than recognizing a sign. Someday I hope to be able "read" fingerspelling the way I read a printed word on a page-by seeing the whole word rather than each individual letter-but I know that will take a lot of practice.

My two ASL instructors are warm, funny, intelligent women who have become my friends. From them, I've learned that ASL is only one aspect of the Deaf Community. Deaf culture also has its own history, customs, values and social behaviors.

One of the most significant things I've learned is that deafness does not mean a person is impaired. Deaf people don't want to be referred to as hearing impaired because the term implies something is wrong with them, as in the case of an impaired driver.

That Sue Thomas episode I mentioned was titled "The Signing," and a review stated that the signed dialogue between two Deaf actors in that particular episode was possibly a first for television. That's almost impossible to believe, considering there may be as many as 2 million ASL speakers in the United States as well as many in Canada.

Even though many TV shows and films have Closed Captioning, I think it would be wonderful if at least a few films and television programs were made by and for the Deaf Community. In traditional TV sitcoms, for example, humorous situations are often based on one character misunderstanding what another character says or does. As with any language, signing lends itself to all sorts of interesting situations that would be uniquely funny to Deaf viewers and others who know ASL. If I were a producer or a big Hollywood film executive, I know what my next project would be!

I'm not sure where ASL will take me. I don't aspire to anything as noble as being an interpreter or a teacher of Deaf children, but my life is richer for having learned it.

If you'd like to learn more about American Sign Language and Deaf culture, these great Web sites will get you started.

http://www.nad.org/site/pp.asp?c=foINKQMBF&b=103785
An article about learning sign language from the National Association of the Deaf.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Sign_Language
Lots of fascinating information about ASL.

http://aslpro.com/
A wonderful site with online ASL dictionaries, quizzes and more!

http://deafnetmd.org/font.html
Download the Gallaudet font and type messages in fingerspelling.

http://www.gallaudet.edu/
Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., for Deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing students.

http://www.smd-services.com/information/brochure1.html
An informative site that discusses Deaf people in the workplace.

http://www.laurentsd.com/index.html
Laurent, South Dakota, a proposed community for Deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing people in which sign language will be the primary form of communication.

http://www.myshelf.com/deaf/romance.htm
And I couldn't resist adding this list of romance novels that feature Deaf characters.
 

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by Dr. Debra Holland

Dear Dr. Debra,
This is the time of year for "resolutions", but sometimes I feel like it's self-defeating to make a list. I'm already working as hard as I can towards my goals. Maybe I'm scared to write things down and be reminded of how far I am from achieving many of them. Any help you can offer? Any ideas?

Dear goal-setter,

I'm glad to see you're working hard toward your goals. That's the most important part of being successful. The second vital component of success is positive thinking, visualization and affirmations toward your goals.

Perhaps you've heard the saying, "Work smarter, not harder." I interpret this phrase to mean, make sure you include positive thoughts in your life as well as positive actions. I know it's hard to think and act positively when you're scared or discouraged. Yet that's the very time you need to double your efforts.

An ongoing theme of this column is about working toward a positive attitude. Years of research and anecdotal evidence show that people who have a positive, motivated attitude weather life's challenges better, have more successful relationships, are better at accomplishing their goals and have more self-esteem. A positive mindset doesn't always come easy; however, it's important to strive for.

Every New Year's Day, I get out my journal and write down my goals. Then I also write them in a file on my computer. I set goals in several areas--physical, financial, emotional, family and writing. When I write goals down, I write them as if I'd already accomplished them. For example: I weigh 128 pounds. I earn $100,000 in my psychotherapy practice. I take auntie time with my nieces twice a month. Ideally, I'd like to read them every day, but that doesn't always happen.

Why set goals? Years of research shows that people who set goals, write them down and regularly review them are the ones who obtain their goals. Don't skip this step just because you're afraid you won't achieve them. In fact, make sure you set your goals high. Not so high that you don't believe them, but just on the edge of stretching what you believe. Many times people who do this later tell me that they didn't set their goal high enough. A personal example is my consulting business. I thought it would be a stretch for me to double the amount I made from consulting jobs. I recently added up my income and saw that I am going to be a bit over that goal by the end of the year. I thought the goal was a BIG stretch at the time. Now, I wish I'd made it higher. My new goal is to double that amount.

I try to take some time--five to fifteen minutes--every morning to read some uplifting, spiritual or motivational kind of books. Then I pick an affirmation for the day and say it out loud several times. Sometimes it's specific, "My creative energy flows into wonderful writing." Sometimes it's general, "Now is the appointed time. Today is the day of my amazing good fortune." The last affirmation is one from Florence Scoval Shinn. Sometimes if I'm struggling with low spirits or a difficult problem, I fall back on, "The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want." I choose this because after years of a Lutheran upbringing, including parochial school, this affirmation is deeply engraved in my subconscious mind and brings me immediate comfort. I also make sure to say my affirmation several times throughout the day.

Then I do some prayer and visualization. To visualize, take some deep breaths then imagine a movie screen in front of your mind. See your goal unfolding on the screen as if it were a movie. Feel the positive emotions you feel by accomplishing your goal. Enjoy the feeling of success.

I recently read an article that talked about writing out your goal nine times. I've just started doing this and like how it's keeping me focused. I make sure to say the goal out loud as I write. Seeing the words, hearing my voice and doing the writing covers the three ways humans learn--visual, auditory and kinesthetic. I have a lot of goals, so I don't do this every day for all the goals. But I try to do it for at least one.

A fun thing to do with goals is to draw pictures of them. I use a poster board and color pictures or symbols for my goals. Then I hang the picture up where I can see it. Another variation is to cut pictures from magazines and glue them on a poster board.

In the evening, right before you go to sleep, is another good time to imprint your goals on your psyche. Takes some time to say or write a gratitude list for all that happened that day. Do some motivational or spiritual reading. Visualize how you want your day to go tomorrow. Then say your affirmation as you are falling asleep.

A friend recently recommended the book I'm currently using for my morning readings, The Power of the Subconscious Mind by Joe Murphy. I highly recommend it.

May this New Year bring you all the blessings that your heart desires.


Dr. Debra


Debra Holland, Ph.D., is a licensed psychotherapist who specializes in relationships and communication techniques. You may visit her website at www.drdebraholland.com. E-mail her your questions at drdebra@drdebraholland.com.

To read last month's Living Well article, click here.

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